Results of the DESKCohort project at the Fest-te Salut fair on youth health habits

Manresa will become the epicentre of youth health and wellness on the occasion of “Fes-te Salut”, the first health fair for young people in Central Catalonia. The “Fes-te Salut” fair, which includes immersive activities and science to put youth health at the centre, will start on 24 April with an inaugural day on prevention at the University of Manresa and will continue with two full days of activities at the Palau Firal de Manresa.

This pioneering initiative aims to bring resources, information and experiences to adolescents and young people through practical activities, shows, workshops, lectures and many interactive proposals, all of them free and open to the general public. The Fes-te Salut fair also wants to be a space for meeting and collaboration between the different organisations and associations that work for young people in the area of Central Catalonia. 

The Fes-te Salut fair will take place on 25 and 26 April at the Palau Firal in Manresa and will begin with an opening session on Thursday afternoon, 24 April, during which the results of the DESKCohort project will be presented, a research on the health habits of Catalonia's youth led by the epi4Health research group (UAB, UOC and UVic-UCC).

The morning of Friday 25 April will be aimed at school groups, with more than 1,700 young people from secondary school and vocational training courses, while the afternoon of Friday and Saturday morning will be open to the public at large: young people, youth groups, families and professionals. The objective is to provide them with the tools, resources and experiences available in Catalonia to promote healthy habits and integral wellbeing. To achieve this, local entities that offer services and care to young people (including third sector entities, public institutions, private entities and research groups) will present more than 70 proposals for dynamic, immersive, participatory and evidence-based activities. 

A proposal with a scientific basis and a community outlook

On Thursday 24 April at 6:00 p.m., one day before the opening of the fair, the results of the DESKCohort research project will be presented. This research project was launched by the epi4Health group (UAB, UOC and UVic-UCC) with the participation of most of the institutes of Central Catalonia. The project acts as the backbone of the fair, since it has made it possible to analyse the health habits of young people in the region.

The session will be held at the headquarters of the Fundació Universitària del Bages (UManresa), and will feature presentations and a round table with experts from the local, educational and health world, including Marc Aloy, mayor of Manresa; Gemma Tarafa, deputy delegate of Public Health of the Barcelona Provincial Council; Ander Chamarro, dean of the Faculty of Psychology and Speech Therapy at the UAB; Mireia Torralba, dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, Campus Manresa (UVic-UCC); Gemma Drou from the Ministry for Health and epi4health researcher; Marina Bosque Prous, UOC - epi4health researcher; Carmen Cabezas, former director general of Public Health, and Albert Espelt, UAB - principal investigator of the DESKCohort project.

About Fes-te Salut

The promoters of Fes-te Salut are the research group epi4Health and the network of research groups TECSAM Network, with the participation of the Government of Catalonia, the Ministry for Education, the Ministry for Health, the Ministry for Research and Universities, CatSalut, the City Council of Manresa, the Barcelona Provincial Council, the Public Health Agency of Central Catalonia, the Public Health Agency of Barcelona, the Catalan Institute for Health (ICS) of Central Catalonia, the General Subdirectorate of Addictions, HIV, STIs and Viral Hepatitis, the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, the University of Vic-University of Central Catalonia (Manresa campus), the Open University of Catalonia, FEDAC Berga, and the Sant Joan de Déu Health Park.